Rookie-Year Baseball Contract of Christy Mathewson to Be Auctioned Off
Baseball Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson is regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time. In 1936 he was one of the first five inductees to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mathewson passed away in 1925 at the age of 45. Therefore, authentically signed items are hard to come by.
Christy Mathewson, also known as 'Big Six', 'Matty', or 'The Christian Gentleman', had his debut in July of 1900. He was a right-handed pitcher. He played seventeen seasons in the big leagues, winning a total of 373 games. This is the third highest total in history of baseball. He also lost 188 games. However, he managed to post four 30-win seasons and in twelve consecutive seasons he won twenty or more games. His career ended on September 4, 1916, with a final win. After serving in the army during Worl War I, Mathewson returned to baseball as a coach for the Giants from 1919 to1920. In 1923 he became part-time president of the Boston Braves.
The contract up for auction is from Mathewson's rookie-year, the 1900 season. Barry Halper was the first to possess the document outside Mathewson's family. He received it from Mathewson's late son's wife. Halper, who died in 2005, was a renowned collector of baseball historical memorabilia and used to be a minority owner of the New York Yankees. Accompanying the document is a letter from Halper describing how he acquired possession of the contract.
The highest price that has ever been paid for a player-signed contract was $996,000. Babe Ruth's rookie-year contract from 1919 sold for this price in June of 2005. Vintage baseball contracts are greatly sought after by collectors, especially in recent years. The auction of Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson's contract will be closely watched by collectors and might set a new standard of value for such historic papers.
More information can be obtained at http://www.memorylaneinc.com. The company is currently accepting bids for this particular auction. The auction is set to close at 8 pm EST, on December 8, 2007.
Published by Susanne Jones
I'm originally from Germany. I have a law degree from the University of Passau, Germany, including the German equivalent to the American Bar exam, and a M.S. in Finance from NIU. After working as a Financial... View profile
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